Natural hazards · Cohoes

Cohoes, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cohoes comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 19 claims here since 1979. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Cohoes?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cohoes to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding78%Tornadoes8%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Cohoes faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

78% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Cohoes flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Cohoes, from FEMA’s records.

19paid claims since 1979

$88Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irene: 3 claims, $39K
Hurricane Floyd: 1 claim, $5K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Cohoes isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Albany County.

Disasters that hit Cohoes

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Cohoes itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Cohoes.

Brought FEMA money into CohoesDeclared for Albany County only

2017

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$40K to the City of Cohoes for repairs

2011

Hurricane Irene

23 households applied for aid $23K aid approved $185K to the City of Cohoes for repairs

2008

Severe Winter Storm

$305K to the City of Cohoes for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

4 households applied for aid $11K aid approved $2K to the City of Cohoes for repairs

2003

Snow

$13K to the City of Cohoes for repairs

2002

Snowstorms

$39K to the City of Cohoes for repairs

2000

Severe Storms and Flooding

$162K to the City of Cohoes for repairs

Albany County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Cohoes

Cohoes and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Troymostly inland floodingHigh

Green Islandmostly inland floodingHigh

Waterfordmostly inland floodingHigh

Cohoesmostly inland floodingModerate

Coloniemostly inland floodingVery low

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Cohoes covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Cohoes’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Cohoes. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Cohoes total about $3.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.